What is Coaching? By Martha Lasley
Coaching emerged as a way to provide support and guidance for individuals moving through a change process towards greater effectiveness and fulfillment. Coaching is part of the cultural shift from a pathology world view to a resourceful world view. In the pathology world view, we identify problems and evaluate and implement solutions. In contrast, coaches and clients work together from a resourceful point of view – collaborating as partners to explore possibilities and opportunities and identify resources to create exciting new action. Coaching is world-changing, as well as life-changing work.
Although coaching is a fast-growing profession, many people do not know exactly what coaching is. They think it’s about giving advice, but nothing could be further from the truth. At Leadership that Works, we define coaching as: “a partnership that maximizes human potential.” Coaching inspires deep awareness and produces fulfilling results in both personal and professional arenas.
As coaches, we are trained to listen, observe and ask powerful questions. We reflect what we see and hear to help clients clarify their feelings and values, leading to insight and action. We customize our approach based on an individual’s or organization’s needs. We trust that our client partners are whole and resourceful, and we tap their inner wisdom to help them overcome obstacles and generate strategies and action plans. Our job is to provide support to enhance the skills, resources, and creativity they already have.
Coaching for Transformation is a holistic coaching program that combines awareness of body, mind, soul and spirit with traditional coaching skills for deep, lasting transformation.
Coaching helps people articulate their vision, identify their needs and core values, bring their inner and outer worlds into alignment, set goals they feel passionate about and create a plan for their own development. Coaching provides a structure to continuously reflect and capture learning, and take that new learning directly into action. Through the coaching partnership, clients build capacity, expand possibilities, and achieve greater fulfillment and success while staying on track with objectives.
Martha Lasley is a founder of Leadership that Works, home of the Coaching for Transformation program that offers an ICF accredited coach training certification geared toward supporting nonprofit training and social change activists. As a certified trainer in Nonviolent Communication, Martha and her team at http://www.leadershipthatworks.com/ offer programs in New York, San Francisco and Toronto.
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